do we realy aware about HIV/AIDS ?

There still remains a great deal of misunderstanding and ignorance around the issue of HIV/AIDS. HIV is a virus which can be transmitted only through blood, intravenous drug use though shared needles, sexual intercourse and through a mother to her unborn child. The virus cannot be transmitted, as some people believe, through casual contact, such as kissing, using water fountains or public bathrooms. A person develops AIDS only when the HIV virus weakens the immune system to a severe degree, leaving it vulnerable to a host of other illnesses, such as pneumonia. The period it takes for HIV to develop into AIDS varies from six months to ten years. However, the new combination of drugs being developed has considerably extended the period in which a person can live with HIV before it develops into AIDS. While the number of new AIDS cases is declining, the number of people living with the HIV infection is increasing. This increased prevalence means that even more prevention efforts are needed. Individuals may be less concerned about becoming infected with HIV due to treatment advances such as protease inhibitors. However, the drugs do not work for everyone, and their long-term effectiveness is still undetermined. In addition, many cannot tolerate the side effects of the drugs or do not have access to the medications. From 1996 to 1997, the number of children (under age 13) who were diagnosed with AIDS decreased by 40%. This is thought to reflect successful efforts to reduce prenatal transmission through voluntary testing and zidovudine therapy (AZT) for pregnant HIV-infected women. People living with the disease are still subject to discrimination and humiliation, and those who advocate for them still fight against decreasing budgets. Misinformation about how HIV is transmitted and who acquires it has contributed to a heightened sense of fear and has caused many extremists to believe that the government must take drastic steps to protect the uninfected. Unfortunately, these steps have been translated into a barrage of legislation which discriminates against people with HIV/AIDS and violates many of their civil liberties, including their rights to privacy, a healthy life, and full employment.

are we doing what we are saying?

The theme is "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise."It reminds that we have not -- that I have not. Today there are 65 million people in the world who live with AIDS. There have been 25 million deaths. The numbers are staggering. One adult in a hundred in the world is living with HIV. In parts of Africa, it is one in three. People around the world continue to fight about how to prevent AIDS -- abstinence still wins over condoms, needle exchange is still forbidden in many places, homophobia and sexism still keep people from being able to protect themselves.The good news is that AIDS is no longer a liberal/conservative issue. Such organizations as Christianity Today, Catholic Relief Services and the Ecumenical AIDS Alliance had information about World AIDS Day on their web sites. Tomorrow, Senator Obama will be preaching at Rev. Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. What more can you do to get involved? How can you "keep the promise?" I hope you'll publish those promises here.

Sketch show

...although my team didn't manage to get into the finals, i have enjoyed performing and practicing with my other team members for the sketch show. Congratulations to GS Group, Mitulu, ABC and those other teams which manage to get into the finals! Best of luck to all of you! =)

3 minuets clip about our sketch Performance

HIV in religion

What does Jesus think about HIv?

In the bible, there are a lot of verses states that adultery is against the Christianity. For example, Exodus 20:14 says that You shall not commit adultery. Besides, Deuteronomy 22:22 says that If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, both of them shall die…

Men had caught a man and a woman making love. One of them was married to someone else. They let off the man and judged the woman. But, did Jesus excuse her? Not at all. Did he encourage her? Not at all. Did he allow her to get off free? Not at all. He rebuked her. He told her she had been wrong. He told her never to do it again and never to do anything else wrong again. “Go and learn from your lesson” was his message.
People always reject adultery or homosexual acts as more wrong in some way than lying or cheating or stealing or being cruel or hating someone. There is no such distinction in the Bible when it comes to separation from God. The bible teaches that we all are imperfect. We all think wrong, feel wrong and do wrong. We all fall far short of God’s standards. None of us deserves any reward or favours from God, and there is nothing we can do to earn his pleasure

Having HIV is not a shame...they need our help...

Spreading OF HIV

Extra Info -

HIV is not spread through:
-casual contact, such as hugs or handshakes
-drinking glasses
-sneezes
-coughs-
mosquitoes or other insects
-towels-
-toilet seats
-doorknobs

Then,
How It Spreads ???

FiRST

Mother to child

Women can transmit HIV to their babies during pregnancy or birth. Approximately one-quarter to one-third of all untreated pregnant women infected with HIV will pass the infection to their babies. HIV also can be spread to babies through the breast milk of mothers infected with the virus. If the mother takes certain drugs during pregnancy, she can significantly reduce the chances that her baby will get infected with HIV. If health care providers treat HIV-infected pregnant women and deliver their babies by cesarean section, the chances of the baby being infected can be reduced to a rate of 1 percent. HIV infection of newborns has been almost eradicated in the United States due to appropriate treatment.

SeCOnd

Contaminated needles

HIV is frequently spread among injection drug users by the sharing of needles or syringes contaminated with very small quantities of blood from someone infected with the virus.It is rare, however, for a patient to give HIV to a health care worker or vice-versa by accidental sticks with contaminated needles or other medical instruments.

ThIRD

Infected blood

HIV also is spread through contact with infected blood. Before donated blood was screened for evidence of HIV infection and before heat-treating techniques to destroy HIV in blood products were introduced, HIV was transmitted through transfusions of contaminated blood or blood components. Today, because of blood screening and heat treatment, the risk of getting HIV from such transfusions is extremely small.
Having sexual contact, including oral, with an infected person without using a condom

~Arguments On Pros And Cons~

According to our topic, HIV/AIDS, there are not any valid pros which could act as arguments. However, there are a number of cons such as:

Health problems which involve the widespread of diseases in the nation

Retrovirus Viruses^

~HIV belongs to a class of viruses called retroviruses, which have genes composed of ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules. The genes of humans and most other organisms are made of a related molecule, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).Like all viruses, HIV can replicate only inside cells, commandeering the cell's machinery to reproduce. However, only HIV and other retroviruses, once inside a cell, use an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to convert their RNA into DNA, which can be incorporated into the host cell's genes.

Slow viruses^

~HIV belongs to a subgroup of retroviruses known as lentiviruses, or "slow" viruses. The course of infection with these viruses is characterized by a long interval between initial infection and the onset of serious symptoms.Other lentiviruses infect nonhuman species. For example, the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infects cats and the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infects monkeys and other nonhuman primates. Like HIV in humans, these animal viruses primarily infect immune system cells, often causing immunodeficiency and AIDS-like symptoms. These viruses and their hosts have provided researchers with useful, albeit imperfect, models of the HIV disease process in people.

Cause Uneasiness to Victims By Making Them Terribly Sick

Early symptoms:

a)Fever
b)Headache
c)Tiredness
d)Enlarged lymph nodes (glands of the immune system easily felt in the neck and groin)

Other symptoms :

a) Lack of energy
b) Weight loss
c) Frequent fevers and sweats
d) Persistent or frequent yeast infections (oral or vaginal)
e) Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
f) Short-term memory loss


Increased the countries' liabilities

~The country has to contribute more money in the medical fields to cure the patients who suffered. This might give a burden to the country's economy. It will affect the country's development due to the enormous increasing rate of HIV and AIDS.